Author: Simple Budget, Simple Life

Happy Lunar New Year! With mandarin oranges being one of the core items that you bring along for house visiting, I’m sure you’d have at least a pair of oranges in your house. Other than eating it, how about making the full use of this amazing fruit by saving the peels? It’s environmentally and pocket ($) friendly. FYI, these works well for any citrus peels :) Here’s what you can do with your peels: 1. Make it with tea [embedded content] You could either dry it like how the video does, or just pour hot water on freshly peeled...

As we countdown to 2017, I was reflecting on my 2016. 2016 was an average year. Nothing exciting to shout about and nothing major happened…. Until I started to browse through my blog and reviewed my financial portfolios. As I browsed through my blog, I looked back at the little things that happened. I got engaged, got a shock from my health screening results which turned out to be nothing bad (pessimist really), achieved $100k cash savings and this is excluding CPF at 25, transferred money to my mom’s CPF which made her happy, travelled overseas twice albeit to...

It’s just one week to Xmas! No wonder the crowd at Orchard yesterday. There were full of people at Takashimaya, ION looking for gifts….or are they impractical ones? Every Christmas, we fret over what to gift to friends, colleagues and families. I, as a self-proclaimed ultra practical person will never buy gifts that are impractical. I’ll SMH and feel disappointed when I received impractical gifts like chocolates (very insincere leh, unless it’s Royce lol), The Body Shop lotion (no use la!), piggy banks (I’m big enough leh!) and notebooks (not laptops but jotter books! They’re fancy, but I get...

I’ve a total of 4 wisdom tooth that has yet been extracted. People say that if you dont feel aches, there’s no need to remove those tooth. But, I’ve been having toothache on my lower right molar area. I knew my 4 wisdom tooth were growing in weird directions during my x-rays years ago. The dentist said that she could not remove them as they’re still growing and it is possible that my tooth would grow vertically just like normal tooth which does not require extractions. However, years later, I could see that my 4 wisdom tooth are impacted...

I like the caption below: With the Powerball jackpot soaring to $415 million, it’s important to remember that money doesn’t solve life’s problems. In fact, many people’s lives took a turn for the worse, and they managed to lose all the money. What would I do if I strike the lottery? 1. Keep quiet This might be hard to do considering that I like to share my joy. But, I’d like to keep my mouth shut and not share this news to anyone – not even my partner and family. I can already imagine what my dad would say...

As I trawl through the comments, people were sharing their PSLE scores along with how and what they’re doing now. Some are doing well, and some are still finding their way out in life. Now here’s my story. I grew up in a vicious environment. A vicious environment perpetuated by bitchy relatives who compare my results EVERY SINGLE TIME. I hated them for their endless comparison and in turn berated myself for not being academically smart. They always had something to say or to belittle me. I had a big ego but a meek personality. Whenever I hear them...

I probably come across as a frugal lady from my previous posts. I don’t spend incessantly, don’t crave for much, nor chase for the latest fashion or makeup. But, I’ve my shares of impulse purchases. And this purchase which I’m taking about, makes me regret every time I think about/sees it. And, it’s not even my money. My engagement ring I don’t think I’ve shared this story before, but my partner was kinda pressurized to get a diamond ring for me. On the spot. I guess I was feeling frustrated of his inaction, and his NATO style. He is...

It’s mid Nov. How time flies. I remember celebrating Xmas in the office not long ago and exchanging gifts. It’s going to be another Xmas soon. In the past 11 months, I don’t think I’ve made much significant achievements. But as I squeeze my brain cells hard, I recalled achieving my goal of having $100k cash at 25. I recalled that I was proposed to, but hey, no progress in terms of marriage/wedding. I recalled that I took on a new portfolio and am not liking it very much. I recalled spending a lot of money on my SC...

It’s 1 Nov tomorrow. After a decent break from work, it’s back to the grind. During my break, I had various thoughts: A) Quit this job – because I don’t know what I’m learning – there’s always so much shit to clear up and my bosses cannot lead – too much things on my plate and the bosses will always say they are giving me exposure – don’t wish to stay till promotion because it could be at least 2 more years (that’s a long time) – bosses don’t communicate and don’t give proper directions, leading to wastage of...

The thought of depositing cash into CPF struck me when I read some blogs on reducing tax reliefs and also earning the decent interest rates given by our government in the current low interest rates climate. Since then, I’ve been researching on the pros and cons of this move and concluded to transfer $7,000 cash into my mom’s Retirement Account. Here’s why: 1. To reduce my tax payable My annual income this year is estimated at $60,000+. The estimated tax is around $2,400, assuming there are zero reliefs. By topping up my mom’s CPF, I’ll get a relief of...

I recently signed up for the HSBC credit card so that I could get the Samsonite luggage with my >$1k spend. Let me just say that their application forms/page are not user friendly and their processing time was really long. I called the HSBC customer service to enquire when I’d receive the card, and they said mine was still in processing stage despite me making a few calls previously to ensure that I’ve submitted all my docs and that I need the card by end of the month. They said they’d expedite. Which, they did. Because on the...

I am a self-proclaimed low maintenance lady and I attribute this lifestyle and my personality of wanting to make my money worth (most of the times), to why I manage to save $100k at 25. I love browsing through famous instagramers’ feed. From their immaculate makeup, fashionable outfits, to their pretty manicures, I’ll also do a double tap. But, I’ve never bear to splash cash to be like them. I’d rather have spend my money on food than makeup, and nice clothes that doesn’t cost a bomb. Here’s how I keep a low maintenance lifestyle: 1) I don’t do...

It’s rather funny that I’m talking about this at this age, when most of my peers receive their licenses after “A” levels at 18. But, I’ve never been bothered to learn driving. Here are the reasons why: 1) My family has no car and the only one with a license is my dad Many of my peers have family car. They were used to being driven around by their parents, and learn about driving through their trips. But our family never had a car. I had no sense of cars, driving or traffic rules and laws. Driving was unfamiliar...

Good lobang must share. A few years ago, when I had no income, I live by my debits. Straight after being employed, I signed up for a few credit cards to milk some rebates. I’ve never paid much attention to debits offering rebates cause their rebates were so little, until now. DBS Visa Debit offers 5% cashback through Visa paywave, Apply Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay. The cashback is subject to a $50 cap per month. You should also keep to 3 times or less cash withdrawals at DBS/POSB ATMs. Good for me, since I don’t withdraw cash...

A little too late, or it’s never too late? BOC Smartsaver has been around for some time now. I’ve heard of it when their promo came out, but kept to my OCBC 360 account. I did my sums previously and concluded that it was best for me to keep my money at OCBC. But I redid my sums recently after my brother reminded me about this account, and, DANG, the minimum interest rate I could get was at least a 2% VS OCBC’s 1.7% with salary crediting and bills payment. What’s making it more attractive is that, since I’m...